Mercy of the Thorns
by The Jester Erebus
Summary: Cora is reunited with her daughter, but still feels anguish from her first love, Rumpelstiltskin. The Queen of Hearts plans to capture and torture Rumpel's new love, the pretty little Belle girl. Setting her devious plans into motion, Cora didn't expect that Belle would turn out to be so intriguing, and so... ...unexpected.


**(AU, starting before Belle loses her memories in the Outsider. Cora and Rumpel have already met in Storybrooke, and Cora has given his the globe, and he plans to find Bae). **

**Cora is reunited with her daughter, but still feels anguish from her first love, Rumpelstiltskin. The Queen of Hearts plans to capture and torture Rumpel's new love, the pretty little Belle girl. Setting her devious plans into motion, Cora didn't expect that Belle would turn out to be so intriguing, and so...**

**...unexpected.**

**Dubious consent AT FIRST (Under the influence of a magic potion) **

**More chapters are to come very, very soon.**

**I hereby declare this ship to be named Black Beauty! Yay! I hope you enjoy, and please, no flames for me slashing Belle with Cora. Constructive criticism is, as always, welcome! **

**/**

Even though she didn't have a beating heart inside her chest, Cora could still feel pain.

She could still feel the sting of regret that came over her when she thought about _him, _and then, then came the fiery anger that consumed her.

It wasn't fair, really, that the Dark One should find happiness, while she was left alone in the dark, alone, forever alone...

Cora's hands clenched into fists at the very thought, and she walked into Regina's office.

"Mother? What's wrong?"

Cora glanced at Regina and smiled, not wanting to show any signs of weakness.

"Nothing, my love. I just—I wonder, if we are to truly find the dagger..."

"Yes?"

Cora paused, not wanting her only child to question her motives. "We should target the one he loves. Surely she knows _something. _And once we control the Dark One...anything and everything will be yours, at last."

Regina stared at Cora silently, and after a long pause, she spoke. "Belle?"

Cora smirked, and tipped her head to the side. "Is that what her name is? How insipid. I'm sure she can be more useful than what she appears to be. Why don't we find out, my love? Let me take care of Rumpelstiltskin, and you shall have whatever your heart desires."

Regina smiled, a genuine smile that almost touched Cora through her frozen bones and hollowed chest. Cora smiled back, and clasped her hand over Regina's.

"What better time than now to begin?"

/

Cora assessed her intended prey as she walked with Rumpelstiltskin, clinging to him like a spiderweb, weaving over him and clutching with feathery silken strands. She was pretty, _very pretty,_ Cora observed, frowning as she watched the two kiss sweetly.

There was something lacking in that kiss, however—and Cora, even without a heart, noticed it right away-

_Passion._

Rumpel seemed devoted enough, but the girl—she seemed to be a different story. There was devotion in her eyes, Cora could see that, but it wasn't the devotion of a lover...more of a friend, if anything.

Cora shook her head. She didn't care about such a trivial thing as puppy love, the only thing she cared about was acquiring the dagger, and tearing the girl away from Rumpel, like her heart was torn from her. He would become heartless, unloved, just like herself.

It would be unsafe, for herself and for Regina, if she went up against Rumpel right now. The girl never left his side, from what she had seen. Cora mused for a moment, and then her mind lighted on her other ally...

Hook.

/

"You mean, you want me to get Rumpelstiltskin away from the girl? Or vice versa?"

Cora grinned, a facade of sweetness sugaring her face. Her manipulations were not unnoticed by Hook, however, and he frowned.

"What's in it for me, Cora?"

"The chance to finally skin your crocodile," Cora murmured, looking up at him, her scarlet lips stretched in a smile.

Hook lifted his hand up to scratch his chin thoughtfully. "If I do this...but, wait! Cora, the girl is useless. She knows nothing."

Regina, who had been sitting in her chair silently, finally spoke up. "She is not completely useless. She may know more than what she lets on."

Hook stared at Regina, and then glanced back at Cora. "If I distract him long enough, you can get the girl?"

Cora smiled. "Of course, my dear captain."

Hook sighed wearily. "Fine. But I still don't see how this aids us in any way. The girl was no help before, and she won't be a help now."

"If you won't do it, Hook, I can do it myself. The Dark One is leaving soon, to find his long lost son. In that time, we can search for the dagger, but when he returns...he will take more than your hand."

With not a backward glance, Cora turned on her heel and walked out of the room, feeling Regina's and Hook's eyes following her out the door.

/

Belle closed the door to the library with a sigh. It had been a long day; thankfully, Ruby had been there to rescue her with a cup of coffee with an extra shot of espresso. She could see the shadow of a man nearby, and she smiled, before glancing again at the shadow.

The dark shade was too tall to be Rumpel. Dread pooled in the pit of her stomach, and she took in a shaking, tentative breath as the shadow grew larger.

Suddenly, Belle was pushed against the door of the library, and whiskey breath wafted over her nose and infected her once-calm mind.

"Let—me—go!" Belle hissed, clawing at the man, whom she recognized from the prison she was kept in, at the Queen's palace. The man with the hook smiled, and then an older woman appeared in a purple mist.

"Marvelous work, Hook!"

Belle drew in a deep breath, ready to scream, ready to call Rumpel's name—but Hook seemed to anticipate her next move. He clasped his hand over her mouth, while keeping his sharp hook pinned to her tender throat.

"Make a sound, darling, and it's your throat that gets slit, next."

Belle's eyes widened in panic, and she stared at the woman, who smirked. "Now, now, Captain, I can take it from here."

The woman lifted her hand, and made a quick motion with her elegant fingers, and suddenly Belle wasn't outside the library anymore. She was somewhere that she didn't recognize, and as she gathered her surroundings, a dismal trace of pure, poisonous fear started to drip through her veins.

"Hello?!" she yelled, her voice cracking with effort. "Rumpel!"

Yet no one answered.

She was alone, again, and it reminded her so much of that padded cell where she was kept, like a caged animal. She glanced around the room once more; it was adorned with mirrors and expensive looking lamps, and a bed. Belle sat in the corner of the room, refusing to sit on the bed, refusing to take anything _they_ offered her.

Rumpel...

/

"So, you got what you wanted. Now what about what I want?"

"Hook, I don't have time for your petty games. Rumpelstiltskin is most likely in his shop, fiddling with his toys. Why don't you go see for yourself?"

With a curse, Hook trudged down the street. Cora watched with faint amusement in her eyes; such a foolish boy, he was. He had no hopes in defeating the Dark One, and Cora was out for her own interests. She didn't have the time nor patience for his vendetta, or his murderous plan. Her plan was one that was more cunning.

In a puff of purple haze, Cora vanished, and reappeared at Regina's manor. She stepped inside with a smile.

"Our guest is in your spare bedroom," Cora said, as Regina's eyebrows lifted.

"You—it was that easy?"

"Too easy," Cora answered. "I'll go and see how are guest is faring."

/

Belle jumped as the door to the room swung open, and the older woman stepped into the room.

"Hello, Belle," the woman said.

Belle hissed angrily like a cornered cat, and Cora laughed.

"My name is Cora."

Belle spluttered. "I don't care what your name is or who you are—Rumpelstilt-"

"He doesn't care to know where you are," Cora snapped, her voice gravelly. "He is too preoccupied with saving his own life. The man is still selfish, after all of these years, I see..."

Belle spat, and the spittle dragged down Cora's face like a trail of a slug.

Cora raised her hand in fury, and Belle flinched, readying herself for the blow that was sure to come.

It never came. Belle gazed up at Cora, and the woman wiped her cheek on the back of her long sleeve.

"You know _nothing _about him," Belle growled, and Cora let out a tinkling laugh.

"Oh, my dear, I know more than you can even imagine," Cora said. "You will be staying here, and if you prove yourself useful to me, I will spare your life. And that is something I do not do often, so consider yourself privileged."

Belle watched in disbelief as Cora left the room with a smirk.

/

Cora stared at herself in the mirror, still not recognizing herself in these strange new clothes. She sighed, washing her face from where the girl had spit on her.

_A very pretty girl,_ Cora thought to herself. A girl...just begging to be corrupted. It seemed as if even the Dark One himself couldn't taint her purity.

A new vow made itself known in the back of Cora's twisted mind. Power, power is what she wanted...she wanted them to bow. She wanted them to _worship. _

And this girl was no different from the rest. "Belle" would kneel, and she would pay homage to the power that Cora had.

Cora smirked to herself as she thought of what would happen, if she seduced Rumpelstiltskin's little "innocent" whore. If she made her cry, and beg, and scream...

_Yesss_

She glanced behind her to see Regina, and her daughter's eyes held a question.

Cora smiled, and brushed her fingers through Regina's hair. "My love, we will find that dagger," she said, not betraying anything in her voice as her mind still raced at the thought of another innocent's knees cracking in humility.

/

Belle stared out the window, making patterns with the fog that her breath made on the glass. She had been here for two days, now, and she had already tried escaping.

Every time she tried to open the door, her hands burned, and she had pulled them back hastily, wincing in pain. The window was not much better; she could peer out of it and touch it, but if she tried to break or open it-

"I brought you tea."

Belle's eyes widened, as she gazed at the teacup that Cora held. The chipped cup—how on earth-

"Where did you get that?" Belle demanded, and Cora laughed.

"As if I would tell you. Drink the tea."

Belle shook her head and glared up at Cora. Cora set the teacup down and gripped Belle's chin in between her strong, slender fingers.

"Drink it or I will pour it down your throat until you choke."

Belle wavered for an instant, and in that instant, she thought of Rumpel, and went back to a day when she was _his _prisoner, and lover, and-

She somehow found the teacup in her hands.

She sipped at the amber liquid, and a warm, fuzzy feeling took over her almost immediately.

"Poison—you-"

Cora chuckled darkly, and to Belle's shock, caressed the side of her face.

"No, my little beauty. Not poison."

_My little beauty_

_My _

_Little_

_Beauty_

The words echoed through Belle's head, and she felt her body throb with tension. What-

"What—is this-"

She collapsed to the floor once more, and let out a scream, her body racked with a strange, tormenting sensation. If someone didn't touch her now, right NOW, she would die, she would-

"Please," Belle choked out. "Touch me."

_What was she saying what was going on oh god no-_

Her inhibitions gone, Belle ripped at her cloth confines, tearing her flimsy plaid skirt, and falling back onto the floor with a moan. She barely noticed when Cora had snapped her fingers—the sound so far away yet so close—and the other woman was in nothing but black undergarments.

She could already taste the wetness of Cora's womanhood through the lace of her panties, just as she would be tasted, through the pumping blood of Belle's heart.

"I could hurt you," Cora murmured, as she stretched across her body to kiss Belle's sensitive throat. "I could kill you, now. But I suppose I shall have mercy on you, just this once, my little beauty."

As muddled and erratic as Belle's thoughts were, her body motions and heartbeat were fluid. She gasped into Cora's hungry, wanting mouth as she took all Belle had to give. She crawled on top of Belle like a spider, like a black widow, and there was no denying the damp traces of her passion on Belle's thigh.

_Pleasepleasepleaseplease_

Belle hadn't realized that she had said that out loud but she didn't care. Her own voice was a thunderclap in the back of her mind, and all she could hear or see was the woman before her.

Cora's brown suede doe eyes narrowed as she made her way down Belle's bare body. With a slight pause, and steely hands, Cora reached up for Belle's face to cup it.

/

Cora kissed her way down Belle's slender body, groaning when she reached her destination. She had the girl in her grasp, now. Belle was hers, hers in a way that the Dark One could never have her. The fact that it was so forbidden was only more titillating to her nerve endings.

Cora licked a stripe up and down Belle's wetness, burying her face in the sweet, flowery garden as the girl gyrated into her mouth. She sucked the little pearl softly, and Belle's fingers reached into Cora's hair to tug at the brunette strands sporadically.

Cora was rewarded with another gush of sweet ambrosia and she drank it in as if she were vampiric, as if this were life's blood. Such nectar that she could bestowed with, _a gift from the gods themselves_, she thought.

Cora lifted her head up, and Belle was staring down at her, her eyes wide, wild and reckless.

"I—no-_yess_"

"Let it out," Cora ordered, as she bent her neck down once more. Belle cradled Cora's head between her thighs and let out the sweetest sigh that made the older woman throb.

The way her hands caressed, albeit sporadically, through her hair was gentle,and telling—the girl was an innocent, and Cora had her. Finally...she had power over someone so pure...

Cora moaned as Belle climaxed; and she watched Belle's face intently, as her face scrunched up and tremors wracked her body. Her form went lax and prone in Cora's hold, and she collapsed against the ornate pillows.

Her face was relaxed, her eyelids fluttering as she gasped. Belle opened her aquamarine eyes and stared up at Cora. Her pupils were dilated; she was still under the influence of the potion Cora had laced with her tea.

Cora laughed mockingly, caressed the side of Belle's cheek with all the gentleness of a real lover, and then disappeared in a haze of purple smoke.

_Oh god—what_

_What happened-_

_Rumpel..._

Belle fell back onto the floor, too tired to reach the bed. Whatever Cora had given her was still coursing through her veins, and suddenly, her eyes became heavy.

/

Belle woke up the next morning with the salty tracks of tears on her face, as she could see from the numerous mirrors in the room, mocking her, telling her she was weak, defenseless...

She had been gone for three days now. Surely Ruby was looking for her—she knew that the wolf-girl would probably be able to find her, due to her keen sense of smell, and animal instincts. Then again, Cora and Regina most likely would have masked her scent.

Cora planned this, planned to humiliate her. She remembered everything that had happened to her, how she begged for Cora to touch her, please, just touch her-

She remembered how she screamed and moaned and god it was something she would never forget. Something she would never live down, and something that she was partly responsible for; having taken the laced tea in the first place.

Self disgust ebbed through Belle's veins, and her heart seemed to become a little more...

...tainted.

/

Cora's eyes narrowed with secret triumph. In time, the beauty would succumb to the beast inside of her beating heart.


End file.
